Dumpster Depot abutter gains support in Derry fight

By HUNTER McGEEUnion Leader CorrespondentOctober 28. 2013 10:39PMDERRY — An abutter who filed an appeal of the proposed Dumpster Depot site plan has been joined by neighbors who also oppose the project.

State Rep. John O’Connor’s appeal was refused by the Zoning Board of Adjustment in an Oct. 3 meeting. The board then opted to allow O’Connor to convert the appeal from a challenge of a code enforcement decision to an appeal of the Planning Board’s Aug. 21 decision to approve the site plan.

The ZBA’s decision means O’Connor could include the Planning Board’s decision as well as a list of people who have been affected, the board ruled.

A number of neighbors have stepped forward in recent weeks to back the appeal and sign a list, abutter Brenda Wilson said Monday night. Wilson, who has filed a separate appeal of the Planning Board decision, has also joined in the effort.

“The whole neighborhood has signed so John and I speak on their behalf,” Wilson said.

The ZBA agreed earlier this month to postpone a hearing of O’Connor’s appeal until Thursday, Nov. 7, because of the amount of material involved.

O’Connor said he was grateful for the postponement as his daughter was expecting a baby at the time. His daughter later gave birth on Oct. 18 to a healthy girl, O’Connor said.

Wilson’s appeal of the Planning Board decision was planned to be heard in Rockingham County Superior Court, but that appeal has now been put on hold, pending the outcome of the Nov. 7 hearing.

“We are hoping it ends on the seventh,” Wilson said.

As part of the other conditions established by the board, O’Connor was supposed to submit evidence and provide a list of parties.

All of the documents have been submitted, Wilson said.

“Basically, the Zoning Board has to have it by today,” she said on Monday. “It’s almost like a rehearing of the whole case.”

O’Connor has said he the business isn’t appropriate for the area and will diminish property values.

He has also said the plan will place Dumpsters close to an area that has a movie theater, Walmart, a restaurant and other businesses.Dumpster Depot owner David Paul has said he understands residents living near the proposed facility don’t want it in their back yard, but that it is allowed in the industrial-zoned section.Even if the appeal is approved by the ZBA, Paul could still file for a variance, which could effectively nullify the appeal, O’Connor said.

The ZBA meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on the third floor of the municipal center.